The Princess and the Talking Frog
by Plumed Pen
Summary: One day, a child drops her precious toy into a pond and makes a promise to a talking frog in order to get it back. The years pass, and the child grows—but the promise is not kept. Now the two meet again...and a wedding looms around the bend.
1. The Meeting

**Chapter One:**

_The Meeting_

The birds were chirping, the butterflies fluttering about, the bunnies hopping to and fro, the squirrels collecting nuts...all was well in the forest. All was well until a wail pierced the tranquil atmosphere, that is. The bunnies scampered away; the squirrels climbed their trees and ducked in their homes; the butterflies flapped their wings and flew into the air, vanishing quickly; the birds hushed their singing and huddled in their nests. The noise had startled all the animals in the forest, and every one of them hurried to hide, fearing danger.

One animal in particular, however, did not fear, and he was disturbed far more than the others were. For in his waters had fallen a glistening ball, and it had nearly struck him on the head as it sank to the very bottom. But that was not the worst of it. Immediately after the object had fallen, a cry rang out so loud and shrill that even underwater as he was, the frog could hear it clearly.

And the wailing did not cease. So the frog resolved to see what it was that had so loudly and so rudely disturbed his peace. He swam to the top of the spring and hopped out onto the dry land. In front of him was a beautiful young child, and though he had seen her many times before, he did not know whom she was. The young child-who could be no more than ten summers old-sat beside the water's edge, crying her little heart out. The sight softened the frog, and he forgot to be angry.

"What troubles you, young one?" he said in his throaty, raspy voice.

The child brought her pretty little head up at the sound; but as she saw no one, she laid her head back down and continued to sob, taking no notice of the frog.

"What causes you such strife?" The frog tried again, and thinking that she had not seen him, he hopped until he was right in front of her.

The child, when she had lifted her head again and seen the big, ugly frog, gave a cry of horror and jumped away from the spring, for she did not like frogs and was afraid of them. She would have run away, too, had she not heard the strange, croaky voice again.

"Pretty child, where are you going in such a hurry? Be not afraid of me."

Now the child knew there was no one else about the forest and said, "Is-is it you, frog, who calls to me?"

And the frog nodded its big head in the way frogs tend to do and answered, "Yes, it is I, pretty child. Would you tell me what it is that ails you so?"

So the child said she had dropped her precious golden ball into the water, and as the pond was so deep, she could not get it back.

"Is that all?" croaked the frog, and the child beheld him in wonder. "If it pleases you, young maiden, I will go and fetch your golden ball, but first promise me something in return."

The child did not hesitate, so overjoyed was she to get her ball back. "Oh, for sure, kind frog, anything you want you shall have."

"I wish to be your companion, and to be with you as you play, and to eat from off your plate the things you eat, and to sleep beside you on your bed." All this the frog requested, and the child assured him that it should be so, if he brought her back the golden ball. She did not mean it, however, for she supposed that the nasty frog could never leave the spring and would never find her.

But the frog did not know this, and jumped down into the spring. Down and down and down he went until at last he reached the bottom, and here the frog quickly swam around and found the golden ball. Into his mouth it went, and to the surface he hastily climbed. Before he gave the girl the ball, however, he desired to know her name.

The child was displeased with the delay, and refused to tell him, demanding he give her the golden ball. But the frog did not concede and threatened to drop it back into the water. At last the child cried, "I am Princess Affina! Now give me back my golden ball, you wicked, nasty frog."

And the frog did as he was told, but no sooner had he done this than the princess up and left him. He called for her to wait for him, as he could not hop so fast, but the princess did not hear him-or if she did, she paid him no attention. The frog did his best to follow after her, but he lost her soon enough and had to go into his spring again.

The next day, the frog waited for the princess to come, for she liked to play by his home and came there often. But the princess did not come that day, or the next day, or the day after that; and soon a week had passed by, and no sign of the princess was seen.

The frog now knew that Princess Affina had no intention of keeping her promise, so he set off to find the palace. Through the bushes and up the hills he went, till at last he came before the king's home. But here he met a ferocious little dog, which chased him into the fountain in the queen's gardens; and a footman who heard the ruckus found the frog and took him to the forest, where he was placed in the spring. And there the frog did remain.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello! Surprisingly, this is turning out far more fairytale-ish than I'd imagined. Well, as you will come to see, this is my very different yet familiar-ish version of "The Frog King" (aka Iron Henry) or "The Frog Prince". In case you didn't catch it, this is not over yet; there are still some chapters (about this same length) to come but not many.


	2. The Reunion

**Chapter Two:**

_The Reunion_

The years passed slowly by. The frog had given up on ever seeing the princess again and had remained in the forest ever since the day the footman had brought him back. He was a rather lonely frog; no other creatures inhabited the pond. At one time, there had been many more like him, but they had thought him strange and moved to another spring far away. The other animals in the king's forest, however, had grown accustomed to the frog and his odd ways, and they had even grown to like him. But the animals were often busy, and so the frog was alone much of the time.

The princess, in the meantime, had forgotten all about the frog who had helped her once so long ago. She had never ventured back to the frog's spring and had never played with the golden ball again. Princess Affina had grown to be a most beautiful maiden, the prettiest there was; and because of this, many had asked for her hand. But the princess did not want them, and had remained single.

This did not please the king, and he arranged for his daughter to marry the Prince of Caspia, against the princess' will. Now the prince was a handsome man, it is true; but he was vain and pompous, and Princess Affina loathed him so. She besought her father, the king, to change his mind, but he would not relinquish.

It came to pass, as the wedding day approached, that the princess grew restless. She took to riding her horse through the palace grounds: the freedom it provided her was invigorating, not to mention it afforded her time to think without being watched—an impossibility at the palace, you can be sure. There was always someone looking for her at home—whether it was the dressmaker, the wedding designer, the jewelry designer, the cook with something new for her to sample... She wanted them all to leave her be; she didn't need the constant reminders. And so she fled the palace twice a day.

One day, as Princess Affina was riding her horse through the forest, two men from a foreign land beheld her; and they took to their horses and gave chase, for they wished to have the beautiful maiden to themselves. The princess pushed her horse as fast it would go, fearing for her life; but she had only gone so far when the edge of the forest appeared, at the end of which was a ten-foot tall stone wall.

The princess was forced to stop and turn the mare around, but the men were now closing in and barring her escape. She glanced about her, frantically searching for another way out, and spotted a low-hanging oak tree not twenty paces in front of her. An idea quickly formed in Princess Affina's head, and she wasted no time turning the mare in the direction of the tree.

Gathering her skirts in her hands and kneeling atop her horse, Princess Affina prepared to spring to the oak tree as she passed beside it; but scarcely had she moved to stand when the mare neighed and tossed its head, and caused the princess to lose her balance. Blindly, she reached for something to stop her fall and by a stroke of luck managed to grab onto an arm of the oak tree. Her relief was short, however, for the branch snapped, and she tumbled to the ground.

The men were now calling to her, believing she was she trapped; the princess, however, did not grace them with a reply and hastened to her feet. The mare had continued on without its rider, and Princess Affina was now left to scramble away on foot from the men. She turned to the tree as the ground shook beneath her with the force of the men's horses. Her only means of survival was to climb the tree and hop to the wall, and she was determined to succeed in this.

She might have done so, had it not been that the men caught up to her just as she was hanging from a tree limb and swinging her legs about for a hold. One of the men, the uglier and taller of the two, dragged her by the hair to his horse and swiftly seated her atop it, following close behind. The princess fought and kicked and scratched, but the man maintained his hold on her.

Meanwhile, the princess' mare was running back toward the palace, and in its crazed state, splashed through the spring below the lime tree on its way. This awakened the frog, who presently went out to see what had caused the violent churning in the waters, and he heard the young birds singing, "Foreigners have entered the forest and have taken for them a beautiful maiden of hair so fair and dress so fine, but she does not wish to go."

Now the frog rallied all the animals, and together they went to the maiden's aid. When the animals of the forest saw the beautiful maiden spoken of, they went into a wild state, for they remembered the princess and did not wish her harm. The butterflies swarmed around the men, blinding them; the bees stung the two foreigners with a ferociousness seldom seen; the bunnies nibbled at the men's feet; the squirrels climbed on the men and bit them; the birds pecked at the men from all sides; and the frog, the frog led the princess from the men to the palace.

But the princess was in a daze, so she did not realize it until the frog spoke. "Princess, you are safe now. I must go back to help my friends."

Then Princess Affina remembered him and the promise she had made, and she bid him come again, that she may honor her word; for the princess was now very grateful of the frog and owed him her life. The frog was happy with the request and told her he would return at dusk. Judging by the position of the sun, dusk was still a ways off.

Princess Affina then went to the king, her father, and told him of the wicked men and how they would have made off with her, had it not been for the animals who came to her rescue. Then the king was in such a rage that the princess could not tell him of the talking frog and the promise she had made, for the king promptly called for a dozen of his men and sent them into the forest, that they may bring back the foreigners to be put to death.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Many thanks to my reviewers and alert-ers!

_Finch_: Yeah, the first chapter is much like the original, but I'm sure the differences are now becoming obvious, no? XD


	3. The Unwelcome Guest

**Chapter Three:**

_The Unwelcome Guest_

Princess Affina paced round and round her chambers. The sun had gone down some time ago, and still the frog had not returned, nor had the king's men. _'What could be keeping them?'_ wondered the princess as she passed by the window again. Presently, she paused her pacing and stared out into the night, trying for a glimpse of something, anything. It was too dark to see much, however, so she turned back away. As she resumed her pacing, she clutched the item in her hand with such force that her knuckles turned a ghostly white, but she did not seem to notice. '_Oh, what is keeping them? Surely they did not meet with a bigger threat_.'

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting Princess Affina's thoughts, and she hastened to answer it. Before her stood a chambermaid. The princess sighed inaudibly. "Yes, what is it?"

"Princess, I'm sorry to trouble you, but there is someone here to see you, and I was told..."

But the princess was no longer listening. '_He's here; he's here! He's here at last._' Out the door and down the stairs she bolted. And when she reached the palace doors, whom should she see but the Prince of Caspia!

"Stars above!" she gasped as she came to a sudden halt.

The prince turned toward her and enveloped her in his arms before she could get away. "Ah, my darling, how happy you are to see me."

But the princess would have none of that and struggled to get free. "Let me go, you big oaf! This is most improper!"

The prince only laughed. "Soon, my dear, soon it will not be so."

And the princess fainted dead away.

– ◊ –

"Princess, Princess! Wake up, Your Highness."

The maid fawning over the princess worked diligently to revive her, feeling inferior as the princess remained unresponsive. She was no doctor, she knew, but she was neither inexperienced and did her best. The prince had called for the doctor, but he was currently seeing to one of the knights' wife, who was bringing a baby into the world; so he had promised to check on the princess as soon he was done. Time could not go by fast enough.

"Don't you know anything!" the prince shouted at the poor maid.

"I am doing my best, Your Highness, I assure you."

"Well, do better!"

The maid bit her lips and remained silent. She tried to think of something else that would help, and at last was graced with an idea that just couldn't fail. "Fetch me some water, quickly!"

The prince recoiled at her words. "Are you addressing me, _maid_?"

The maid realized the error of her words but plunged ahead nonetheless. "Your Highness, you do wish for her to recover, do you not?" And that was all she had to say. The prince was off in the very same minute.

The feel of cold water on her face brought Princess Affina to her senses. But when she opened her eyes, she wished she were dead; for beside her was the most hated prince. She did not notice when the prince gestured for the maid to leave them alone, so absorbed with ill tidings was she.

"My darling, so great was your surprise at the sight of me that you fainted," he erroneously explained. "Such love, such devotion. I am but glad I was able to catch you, less you mar your pretty face."

Princess Affina clenched her teeth, thoroughly repulsed. "Of course. It would not do for you to marry an ugly klutz, after all."

"Now, now, darling, I know you cannot help it if you're clumsy. After all, you were fawning over me, so I suppose my handsomeness is to blame."

Princess Affina had to work hard to keep from slapping the vile man. The imbecile could not even see sarcasm for what it was. "It falls to reason, then."

"Ah, yes, your fiancé is wise, my dear, very wise."

Mentally screaming, the princess mustered what decorum she could and managed to stay smiling.

"Something wrong, my dear?"

_'Yes. You.' _But she didn't reply, only gave a small shake of the head. "Where is my handmaid?" she asked upon noticing the emptiness in the room.

"I called her away, my dear. I thought we should have some time to ourselves."

_'Ooh! The imbecile_.' "I should like to have my handmaid present. It is not fitting for a lady to be alone in closed quarters with a man, as you well should know."

"But, my dear, we are betrothed! There is a vast difference, I assure you."

Princess Affina did not so much as reply, and instead, raised her voice and called for her maids—or _maid_, as the case proved to be. The prince was most certainly not pleased, but the princess bore him no mind.

"You called, Your Highness?" said the maid upon re-entering the room—and none to soon for the princess, you can be sure.

_'O merciful Lord, thank you.'_ "I'm afraid I do not feel so well. I expect it would do me some good to lie down—for after all, I wouldn't want to ruin my beauty for my f–fiancé," the princess stumbled on the word, so atrocious was it in her mouth. She wished to never see the despicable man again, and to think she'd have to marry him! Oh, how cruel her father was.

"No, we would surely not want that," the prince was quick to agree, and presently he rose to his feet. "Allow me to assist you, my darling."

_'Oh, what an idiot! Am I really to spend the rest of my life with him? May he die young.'_ "I thank you for the offer, but I do not wish to trouble you. You have just come from a long trip, and therefore, you must be tired. I implore you to take your rest."

"How she worries about me," the prince said to the maid, who wisely remained silent. "How doting she is. Very well, my dear, I shall see you on the morrow." And the prince took his leave.

_'At last! I should have died if I had to remain a moment more in his presence.'  
_

As Princess Affina was being led to her chambers, a commotion sounded at the doors. Several men's voices were heard as they argued all at once. The princess quickly ventured to investigate, remembering once again the talking frog. _'It must be he at last,'_ thought she. _'The men are likely clamoring at his ability to speak.'_ The castle doors opened before Princess Affina could reach them, and in came the twelve king's men along with the two foreigners. When one of the king's men saw the princess, he hurried to usher her elsewhere, ignoring her protests.

"Princess," said the portly man, "those are the men who were in the forest with you, are they not?" He waited for the princess to affirm—with a nod of the head—before continuing. "Well, Princess, those men claim they are here with Prince Charlon of Caspia."

The princess interrupted him with a gasp and a stuttered, "You mean to say—they said—the prince?"

The man nodded. "That is what they say, but we are bringing them before the king nevertheless. The Prince of Caspia is not here, is he?"

Princess Affina could only nod her head.

"He–he is? Oh my; that puts things a little differently. Thank you, Princess. I must go now and tell the rest what you have told me, lest we make an error and offend the prince."

"Wait!" the princess halted him as he left. "Did…did you…see a frog, perchance, when you were in the forest?"

The king's man, though puzzled at the question, answered truthfully; and he did not fail to see how the princess hung on his words. "That we did, Princess. A more curious sight we have never seen. Why, as we were entering the forest, we came upon a group of frenzied creatures—no doubt the very same ones that came to your aid—and in the midst of them was a frog. We could not stop to observe the spectacle—we had a task, you know—but upon our exiting the forest, I remembered and paused to do just that. However, I did not find so many creatures as before: only a bird, a squirrel, and the frog remained. The first two scampered away as I approached, but the frog did not. It appeared to be either sleeping or dead, and—"

"Dead?" cried the princess.

"Well, Your Highness, I couldn't be sure, but it very well appeared that it might have been trampled…"

'_Dead. Dead! It is your fault he is dead, Princess. Twice the frog has done good by you, and look now! He is dead as a consequence of your foolishness.'_ Unable to bear the accusing voice and the guilty thoughts consuming her, Princess Affina hiked her skirts up and ran for the castle doors. The cries of surprise and concern meant nothing to her—they fell on deaf ears.


End file.
